Vocational schools get right to the skill and avoid giving students reason to ask, "Why are we learning this?" Some high schools offer qualifying students, usually seniors, vocational training in lieu of normal in-house classes. One such program, sometimes abbreviated "VoTech," fulfills high school requirements and also gives students college credit for some of their classes. Schools such as at Illinois' Carl Sandburg College (sandburg.edu) offer a dual program. Many find that this training lays a practical foundation for entering the adult workforce.
Beyond high school, skills-hungry adults can find a multitude of vocational skills training at local community colleges. Even if satisfied with their current job, many find that taking additional vocational training --- for instance, with Oregon-based Vocation Vacations (vocationvacations.com) --- helps enrich their lives and gives them a greater skill-set on or off the job.
Numerous schools across the nation serve children and young adults who struggle at school and home with academic and behavioral issues. For example, several schools across Florida apply the ARISE-based curriculum (at-riskyouth.org), which helps at-risk youth find the emotional and practical strength necessary to improve their lives. ARISE staff trains educators throughout the state, thus empowering state schools and educators to offer tools that many youth should have learned from their parents, but for various reasons did not. ARISE's out-of-the-box training is specifically designed for youth who typically become hostile and frustrated in normal school settings.
For those who are not at-risk, but seek personal growth, advice and life guidance, there are character-focused life skills schools that help people achieve personal enrichment. One such school, LifeSkills411 (lifeskills411.org), offers webinars and seminars that teach how to build a "house of success." Building this house, according to LifeSkills staff, involves learning about personal awareness, positive thinking, discipline, goal setting, decision making, life organization, effective communication, positive relationships, conflict resolution, life pressure, healthy lifestyle and financial responsibility,
The school promotes the motto, "It's not how smart you are, but how you are smart." Character development schools help people realize their intellectual and emotional potential, rather than focus on academic testing that compares one student with another.
Sometimes, though, character is not enough. Schools such as Arizona's ACCEL school (accel.org) play a special educational role by helping children and adults with developmental disabilities. Skills that many of us learn with ease and take for granted, such as skills for work, socializing and daily living, come with difficulty for others. ACCEL and similar schools focus on a student's individual needs and personality and then provide a program to help him make a successful transition toward independent living. For instance, ACCEL provides job training that ranges from working at a gift shop to recording music. Schools like ACCEL also go beyond teaching job skills and offer behavioral therapy to students, thus emphasizing not just the skill, but also life.